Engraving apparatus for engraving articles in a manner whereby relative rotation is caused between the engraving tool and the article to be engraved when changing from one digit to another is known as per U.S. Pat. No. 2,562,269 and my copending application Ser. No. 808,508 filed on June 6, 1977. In said patent, each time a different letter of the alphabet or numeral is to be engraved, relative rotation is caused between the engraving tool and the article to be engraved by a preselected uniform amount. In a typical prior art device, such relative rotation is uniformly in an amount corresponding to four teeth on a gear.
In conventional digits which are engraved, that is letters of the alphabet and/or numerals, some digits are wider than others. Thus, the letter "I" requires less space than "A" which in turn requires less space than "M". In such prior art devices, letters such as "M" are contracted so as to be narrower than that which is required for good alphabet design. The present invention solves this problem of the prior art by structurally interrelating an engraving machine in a manner so that there is an automatic compensation for the difference in the widths of various digits such as letters or numerals so that less such relative rotation is caused when it is desired to engrave the letter "I" as compared with the letter "A" which in turn is less than that required when engraving "M".